Spirited Away III: A Tale of Two Worlds

Chapter 2

One of Chihiro's strongest virtues was responsibility. It wasn't something she acquired during her stay in the Spirit Realm as a ten-year-old; it ran in her blood, and the older she got, the more that trait took dominance. As a child, she did well in school, emerging at the top of her classes and quickly becoming a bit of a social butterfly. As a homeschooling student, she was vigilant, even during her deepest and thickest bouts of depression. That, along with her "dogged-to-the death" stubbornness, rescued her as a bewildered ten-year-old in a different world. She just got used to scraping up bits of time to finish her work. After all, if she saved her parents from becoming pork chops as a kid, then why couldn't she do anything else, especially something as normal and human as homework?

Therefore, it came as a bit of a surprise that, despite a grueling two hours of homework late into the night, she barely scraped by on her biology test with a "B."

"I can't believe this," she muttered, staring pale-faced at her red-inked answer sheet. She felt herself go paler by the minute.

"What's got you so worried?" chirped some nameless student. Chihiro only knew that it wasn't Cassie because this student was a male.

"Nothing unexpected," she said blandly.

"The test?" he persisted.

"Yeah."

"Yeah, it was ... one of the difficult ones," he said sheepishly. "I hope the next one will be easier, though."

"As do I," she breathed.

Thus was her disappointment that she sulked all the way home, steering clear of Cassie's Mercedes as well as any eager taxis. The hour-long walk earned her painful blisters, but at least her features were schooled into an unassuming mask and her sadness controlled.

"Chihiro, where have you been?" hollered her mother, poking her head out the window. She paused. "Have you walked all the way home?"

"Yes, Mom."

"Why?"

"Because I was missing out on exercise," she said offhandedly, by which Mrs. Ogino was thankfully satisfied.

"Speaking of which, Chi, will you have dinner?" she offered. "It's pork fried rice - hey, what's wrong? Are you all right?!"

For Chihiro suddenly blanched and swayed, gripping a nearby stool for support. It wasn't due to her slight aversion to pork, of course; the sight of meat never made her faint, not even when she witnessed Bathhouse cooks marinating fillets of questionable origins. The word "pork" had her mind jumping to Lin and her suspicious sadness.

"I'm fine, fine, just hungry."

Mrs. Ogino's eyebrows drew together. "This isn't about the Spirit World, is it?"

"What?" Chihiro's surprise, needless to say, didn't need feigning. "No - no, of course not."

Fortunately, another one of Chihiro's virtues was honesty; she barely ever lied. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your point of view), this made her a horrible liar, one who couldn't get away with the simplest of fibs.

"Don't you dare tell me untruths, young lady!" Mrs. Ogino's voice rumbled warningly in her chest.

Chihiro's eyes widened. How had her mother made the connection so quickly? What had given her away? Her gaze trailed upstairs, to her brother's room down the hall from hers.

"Dai told me everything," Mrs. Ogino affirmed. "He said that a friend of yours visited last night."

The brunette frowned. "What else did my brother say?"

"Not much, but he told me to keep you as far away from them as possible."

Chihiro's breathing grew shallow.

"Chihiro, what's going on?" her mother demanded. "Chihiro, tell me!"

"I - I don't know..."

"I'm your parent! I have every right to know!"

She shook her head frantically, sweaty tendrils of brown hair whipping to and fro. "I don't know, Mom! Dai didn't let Lin say anything; he just screamed at her the entire time! All that I know is that something happened." She sucked in a gulp of fresh air and tried to stop her tears. "Mom, what if something happened to Haku? What will I do without my friends?"

Her lip quivered, barely perceptible.

But her mother's eyes were rock-hard, ice-cold.

"You will live," she hissed.

Chihiro took a step back, startled. "What?"

Of course, Chihiro modified her story, omitting her deathly experience when she slew the Dark Spirit. Little did she know that Dai told her parents the full, unabridged version. Now, Mr. and Mrs. Ogino's friendliness towards the spirits froze.

"Let me make this very clear, Chihiro. I don't care what your friends say, but you're never going back there ever again."

Chihiro stumbled back another step. "What - why? Why, Mom?"

But this angry woman who towered imperiously over her didn't even look like her mother.

"Because I won't let you!" she shouted. "I won't let you throw your life away!"

"Mom, what are you talking about?" the girl cried despairingly.

Mr. Ogino's hands grasped his wife's shaking shoulders.

"Honey, calm down," he pleaded; "it's not her fault."

"What's not my fault, Dad? What are you saying?"

Neither her mother's weary nose-pinching nor her father's askance looks escaped her notice.

"What we're saying is that you cannot go back, Chihiro. Ever."

Her backpack slid off her shoulder and clattered to the polished floor with a bang.

"What?" she gasped. "No, you can't be saying -"

"Yes, Chihiro," Mrs. Ogino affirmed. "You will never go back to the Spirit Realm. Ever."

A minute later, those words hit Chihiro like a sledgehammer.

"You cannot stop me," she cried, straightening her stance, which was trembling now worse than ever.

"We can, and we will," Mr. Ogino said sternly. "As far as the government is concerned, you're a child."

"I'm nineteen!"

"That's a minor in Japan."

"It doesn't matter." Her head spun in circles, her bravado slipping precariously. "You still cannot do this to me! I can and I will go back!"

Mrs. Ogino raised her eyebrows challengingly. "And do what there, Chihiro? Scrub slimy bathtubs for the rest of your life? No, don't interrupt. Hear me out! Chihiro, you don't realize this because of your infatuation, but you have nothing to do there. Those spirits," she spat, "did nothing other than repeatedly put you in harm's way! The best thing Haku ever did was bring you home."

The cruelty by which those words were uttered scared all thoughts of obedience from Chihiro's mind.

"Infatuation" was nowhere near the correct term; she was in love, utterly and wholesome in love, with everything and everyone there. That world gave her confidence, lifelong friends, a brother, and a love interest.

She didn't say anything to those cold-faced strangers. Instead, she spun on her heel and darted out the door.

"Chihiro! Chihiro, please wait!"

Sprinting down the cobblestone path, Chihiro found herself in the forest. The green shrubbery and trees were like a huge, rayless cave.

"Chihiro, wait!"

That jolted her out of the false sense of security. She picked up her pace, interweaving between the trees.

"It's me! Lin!"

Strong, warm hands clasped her waist. Chihiro skittered to an awkward stop.

"Gosh, girl," heaved the weasel spirit, "you certainly know how to make someone sweat."

Chihiro herself was heaving too much to apologize. Finally, she stuttered, "I - I am sorry, I - thought you were ... someone else..."

"What happened?" Lin cut off sternly. "I could hear your shouts from all the way outside."

Chihiro winced.

"Haven't you heard?"

"I'm not the eavesdropping time," she sniffed.

"Sorry." Chihiro ran a hand through her tangled locks. "My backstabber of a brother babbled to Mom that I nearly died, and now they forbade me from ever going back," she explained bitterly.

"How do you know Dai said that?" Lin ventured after a momentary pause.

"My mom said, 'I won't let you throw your life away,' and then, 'The spirits did nothing but put you in harm's way.'"

A familiar fire rekindled in her eyes. "That's not true!"

"Of course not! You and Haku always did your best to protect me." Chihiro lowered her head. "But Mom doesn't get that."

"And your father...?"

"He's on her side 100%."

She inadvertently leaned forward, as if trying to catch a few stray thoughts of wisdom, but her friend was stonily silent.

"Say something," she begged.

"What do you want me to say?" Lin simpered. "I don't want you to disobey your parents, but if it wasn't that major I wouldn't have come here."

Chihiro's peach-hued cheeks flamed crimson. "Then speak, Lin! You can't just barge into my house, saying I need to come back without offering an explanation. What has happened? Tell me; it's been eating me alive all day! Did something happen to Haku?"

"No, nothing happened to Haku."

"Then what?"

"It's about you! You're not safe here. The Human World isn't safe."

Chihiro was nonplussed. "Why?"

"Look around you."

A keen once-over showed nothing amiss. The trees, birds, and vegetation were all intact.

"Word came out that the mighty Prince Nigihayami Kohaku Nushi fell in love with a human - namely, you. You remember how spirits feel about humans, correct?"

"What do you - oh."

"Yes, 'oh,'" Lin emphasized. "So when some of the more powerful figureheads learned that a matrimony between a spirit prince and a human was possible ... well, let's just say you're hopelessly vulnerable here."

Chihiro blanched. "Are you saying that they are going to attack me?! Why?"

"Because, Chihiro! Because they can't see past their prejudice. Because they don't want a human in the ruling family.

"Nonetheless," she continued, "the Human World is depleted because of us. The war left us ... weak. Many of the spirits who controlled the harmony between worlds are dead or injured. Haven't you noticed how weak nature is?"

Of course, Chihiro did. The shortage of harvest and worldwide rationing of goods that baffled many never surprised her.

Lin eyed her human sister. "I know that you're in love with Haku," she whispered gently. "So tell me if I'm wrong in assuming you want him in your life."

"Y-you're right," murmured Chihiro.

"So you have to make a choice. Either you go back to the Spirit Realm or you stay here. It's one or the other."

"I cannot just go! Lin, think of my parents. They can be piggish sometimes, yes, but I can't just leave them. I was planning on helping them financially while I'm here! And what about Dai? He just became a human. Are you telling me that I'll have to leave them behind?"

The ensuing pregnant pause took their breaths away.

"Chihiro, the truth is that humans can't stay in the Spirit Realm. There's a human world for a reason. It would be like keeping a fish out of the water, a lion out of a savanna. You can keep that lion in the cleanest and nicest cage, but it will still long to return. If you come to live with us permanently, you, too, will long to return. There will be physical drawbacks."

"I don't believe it," Chihiro cried. "Not for a minute I will believe it. The only drawbacks I'm experiencing is here, in my so-called home."

"Spiritual drawbacks, maybe," Lin said, smiling wistfully, "but not physical ones."

"Impossible..."

"Chihiro, I'm telling you the truth. Now your choice is if you return and if you're willing to subject your parents to that."

Yet she refused to contemplate the matter. Her heart thudded; her logic froze. It was as if she knew her answer deep down but didn't have the guts to acknowledge it so soon.

"Why didn't Dai want me to hear that?" she inquired instead.

"I suppose Dai didn't want me imposing this dilemma on you," Lin sighed.

"It wasn't his right," she muttered.

"I know, but he loves you."

Suddenly, the overwhelming amount of sympathy and gentleness from her no-nonsense friend scared Chihiro mindless. As she climbed up the slope, knees buckling, her only thought was, "Only something this terrible can make Lin this nice."


Ivy pried her eyes open.

"Finally, you're awake! What've you been thinking, anyway, sleeping in so late?"

The scratchy voice registered with her foggy mind, albeit the figure loomed just a bit out of view.

"W-what are you talking about?" she slurred.

"It's eight o'clock, dearest," came the exasperated reply.

Suddenly the tendrils of sleep clinging onto her fell away. She bolted upright on the net. Her small woven room was bathed in rosy sunlight, and there, in the corner, sat her joint-swollen aunt.

"Auntie," she exclaimed, "what are you doing here?"

"Is that the thank you I get, child?" her aunt chided. "Not a 'good morning' or 'how do you do' to get by? By all means, I would've let the clerk deal with your insolence, had I possessed the hindsight."

"Oh, quit it."

"Yes, I shall call the clerk," said her aunt, rising with such feigned seriousness that Ivy nearly doubled over with laughter.

"Auntie, please -" she pleaded in between giggles.

The elder sniffed.

"I'm sorry," Ivy said as soon as she sobered. "But why didn't you wake me up?"

"You were lucky that I was here. I told the clerk that I was covering for you, and you needn't be bothered."

"Thank you. But what about your duties?"

"I'm off of them," assured her aunt, raising her eyebrows. "Didn't you know I had a day off?"

The joke sobered Ivy further. "Day offs" was a privilege reserved only for infants and the dying. Even small children were given tasks daily. "I'm serious."

The elder's climbed even higher. "What? Don't I deserve a small vacation?"

"You do," agreed Ivy, hugging her aunt. "You deserve so much more."

"As do you, my child," breathed the woman. She grazed Ivy's dark eye shadows. "You needed that sleep."

"Thanks for giving it to me." Ivy smiled. Sleep was the neediest and priciest of gifts, and she just received it.

"Now, don't worry about an old crone like me. I had Old Tom helping out a little - he had a day off."

"Really?" mused Ivy, half-disbelieving. "Anyway, do you need help?"

The lady cocked her head, glaring.

"Yes, yes," relented her niece, "I am the one who needs help. I'll take care of that."

"And you better do so, young lady! I am not dealing with the clerk again."

"I will, I promise," Ivy murmured. "May the Cyborgs be pleased with you."

It was a standard goodbye, something no one dared to neglect. Her aunt's eyes hardened. Nevertheless, she echoed, "And may the Cyborgs be pleased with you."


Thank you for reaching the 5 reviews mark! Your encouragement helped in writing this chapter, especially given that I had little time for writing the past few days. There is some foreshadowing in this chapter; what do you think will happen next? Leave me your thoughts! 5 reviews = a faster update!